ships.
The need was satisfied by trade, mainly to Norway. For this purpose every area of Iceland maintained ships, enabling voyages to be made every year to buy timber. Norway was the nearest major market, and well able to supply the timber required, as well as being the homeland of the majority of the first settlers. From Norway the Icelanders bought first timber, then a variety of luxury goods, often traded from the Mediterranean to Norway. In return, the Icelanders sold wool. Icelandic wool is still regarded as being of superb quality, and found a ready market in Norway. The trade was, however, unequal. While Norwegians were content to buy Icelandic wool, they had no absolute need for it, and could take the wool they needed from other sources or produce it at home. By contrast, the Icelanders did have an absolute need for timber, which forced them to trade on any terms. As a result, while trade from Iceland to Norway was considerable in volume it did not make the Icelanders rich. Rather, it created a dependency culture, where Iceland was unable to exist without the support of Norway. For Icelanders there was pressure to find different goods to trade; for Norwegians there was an expectation that their culture and values should be exported along with the timber to their Icelandic brethren. In time a broadening of Icelandersâ trade goods happened, but not before Norwegian pressure resulted in an export of Norwayâs culture.
The conventional date for the conversion of Norway to Christianity is 1030, though in fact there had been some penetration during the reigns of Olaf Tryggvason (995â1000) and Olaf II Haraldsson (1015â30), both Christian kings, though both baptised outside Norway. Norwegian Christianity therefore post-dates the Vikingsâ settlement of Iceland, and Christian penetration of Iceland was far from universal. Throughout the Middle Ages and well into the modern period, Christianity and paganism lived side-by-side in Iceland, with the people worshipping the gods which make up the Norse pantheon, a complex group of gods and their myths which provide a way of understanding the world. 13 Thus Thor, in origin a thunder god, had developed into a representation of the values of strength, honesty and hard work, and became a favourite of the Icelandic farmers. He embodies their values, and is commemorated in many hundreds of place names, and the enormous popularity of personal names with the element Thor. Odin too, the All-father, was popular, associated with the heroic ideals ofpersonal independence and personal responsibility, as well as the god of war and magic. While Thor is the god of the farmers, Odin is very much the god of the Viking seafarer. These two sets of values around Thor and Odin are key to understanding the value system of the Icelanders: strong, honest, hard-working farmers who valued independence and were prepared to fight for it. A thousand years of Christianity have demonised the Norse pagan religious system, yet there is much in its values that is commendable, and much that should be applauded in the ethical values of the society the Vikings created in Iceland. In Iceland, the Viking way of life demonstrated its ultimate potential.
In the late Middle Ages, Iceland went on to produce a northern renaissance of learning and literature built around a society which valued democracy, justice and peace. This North Atlantic island is a key stepping stone in the route from Europe to America, and also a key in the development of the values which prompted the Viking expansion to America.
Vikings and Greenland
Iceland is the last truly European stepping stone of the North Atlantic. It is a short step from Iceland to Greenland.
The discovery of land to the west of Iceland must have been contemporary with the first settlement of Iceland. From a ship at sea it is possible on a clear day to see at one time both the glacier-clad peak of Snaefell in Iceland, and the central ice cap of
The need was satisfied by trade, mainly to Norway. For this purpose every area of Iceland maintained ships, enabling voyages to be made every year to buy timber. Norway was the nearest major market, and well able to supply the timber required, as well as being the homeland of the majority of the first settlers. From Norway the Icelanders bought first timber, then a variety of luxury goods, often traded from the Mediterranean to Norway. In return, the Icelanders sold wool. Icelandic wool is still regarded as being of superb quality, and found a ready market in Norway. The trade was, however, unequal. While Norwegians were content to buy Icelandic wool, they had no absolute need for it, and could take the wool they needed from other sources or produce it at home. By contrast, the Icelanders did have an absolute need for timber, which forced them to trade on any terms. As a result, while trade from Iceland to Norway was considerable in volume it did not make the Icelanders rich. Rather, it created a dependency culture, where Iceland was unable to exist without the support of Norway. For Icelanders there was pressure to find different goods to trade; for Norwegians there was an expectation that their culture and values should be exported along with the timber to their Icelandic brethren. In time a broadening of Icelandersâ trade goods happened, but not before Norwegian pressure resulted in an export of Norwayâs culture.
The conventional date for the conversion of Norway to Christianity is 1030, though in fact there had been some penetration during the reigns of Olaf Tryggvason (995â1000) and Olaf II Haraldsson (1015â30), both Christian kings, though both baptised outside Norway. Norwegian Christianity therefore post-dates the Vikingsâ settlement of Iceland, and Christian penetration of Iceland was far from universal. Throughout the Middle Ages and well into the modern period, Christianity and paganism lived side-by-side in Iceland, with the people worshipping the gods which make up the Norse pantheon, a complex group of gods and their myths which provide a way of understanding the world. 13 Thus Thor, in origin a thunder god, had developed into a representation of the values of strength, honesty and hard work, and became a favourite of the Icelandic farmers. He embodies their values, and is commemorated in many hundreds of place names, and the enormous popularity of personal names with the element Thor. Odin too, the All-father, was popular, associated with the heroic ideals ofpersonal independence and personal responsibility, as well as the god of war and magic. While Thor is the god of the farmers, Odin is very much the god of the Viking seafarer. These two sets of values around Thor and Odin are key to understanding the value system of the Icelanders: strong, honest, hard-working farmers who valued independence and were prepared to fight for it. A thousand years of Christianity have demonised the Norse pagan religious system, yet there is much in its values that is commendable, and much that should be applauded in the ethical values of the society the Vikings created in Iceland. In Iceland, the Viking way of life demonstrated its ultimate potential.
In the late Middle Ages, Iceland went on to produce a northern renaissance of learning and literature built around a society which valued democracy, justice and peace. This North Atlantic island is a key stepping stone in the route from Europe to America, and also a key in the development of the values which prompted the Viking expansion to America.
Vikings and Greenland
Iceland is the last truly European stepping stone of the North Atlantic. It is a short step from Iceland to Greenland.
The discovery of land to the west of Iceland must have been contemporary with the first settlement of Iceland. From a ship at sea it is possible on a clear day to see at one time both the glacier-clad peak of Snaefell in Iceland, and the central ice cap of
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